Opinion Pieces brought to you by South Africa's best read!

Covid-19 vaccine will not be a magic bullet for the ailing healthcare system

Opinion Robert Shivambu - 17 Jan 2021

The pandemic is happening in the context of a healthcare system we have allowed to decay

The inefficiency of the Gini coefficient

Opinion Shaun Read - 17 Jan 2021

To simplify complex inequality into a single statistic doesn’t address how to accurately assess (or reduce) South Africa’s large wealth divide

Hungry for change: An open letter to African governments

Opinion Open Letter - 16 Jan 2021

The pandemic has provided humanity with a taste of a future at the limits of existence, as well as an appetite for change

Editorial: Campaigns in the time of Twitter

Opinion Editorial - 15 Jan 2021

Just as a “nobody” can spew falsehoods and propaganda on social media, so too can a political leader — only with more dire consequences.

Life and death at the Beitbridge border post

Opinion Camilo Ramada - 14 Jan 2021

The seemingly endless queue at the Zimbabwe border post is not unusual, but Covid testing, a curfew and the Christmas rush stretched it for days. But no matter the obstacles, the trade to a country in economic crisis goes on regardless

Khaya Sithole: World needs a shot in the arm, not its own foot

Opinion Khaya Sithole - 14 Jan 2021

Hedging and hoarding behaviour around vaccine access was inevitable, but it will be impossible for the global economy to recover until the majority of the world’s citizens have been inoculated

No early jab for this wit ou

Coronavirus Paddy Harper - 14 Jan 2021

Paddy Harper finds his ANC councillor has led him, but much like Donald Trump, it was down a garden path

Balancing the books: Give the auditors some credit

Opinion Shaun Read - 13 Jan 2021

This is an article in reponse to Khaya Sithole’s column on 14 November, The decline and fall of South Africa’s auditing profession

This is America

Opinion Derek Catsam - 13 Jan 2021

To those who lament the events at the Capitol on 6 January, saying, “This is not who we are”: unequal, undemocratic, duplicitous is precisely who we are

The last Trump?

Opinion Philip Machanick - 12 Jan 2021

US President Donald Trump may have less than a fortnight left in office, but he’s not done yet — he may well be remembered for destroying the Republican party

The hallucinatory bunker of the white right

Opinion Christopher McMichael - 12 Jan 2021

The anti-Black Lives Matter backlash in South Africa highlights the growing ideological convergence between the far right and conservatives

Who gets the shot, who gets the shaft?

Opinion Charles R Stith - 11 Jan 2021

The vaccine can break the surge cycle, if the poor and the newly poor are prioritised

May the force be with us

Opinion Tim Murithi - 11 Jan 2021

Don’t be too quick to dismiss reports of visitors to Earth – perhaps they can help us

A smarter, not stricter lockdown is necessary

Opinion Antoinette van der Merwe & Yael Borofsky - 11 Jan 2021

Studies in informal settlements show transparent communication is key to trusting the government and adhering to restrictions

Democracy does not mean keep voting for the ANC

Opinion Matthew O’Brien - 10 Jan 2021

Despite fighting so hard for it, South Africans don’t seem to understand how democracy works

Words matter and have consequences

Opinion Tali Nates - 10 Jan 2021

What started as hate speech ended in violence at the Capitol

Editorial: 2021 — No choice but be strong

Editorial Editorial - 9 Jan 2021

Pharmaceutical companies are yet to register their vaccines with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, boding ill for its delivery to the public

Exam rewrite court case disadvantaged the class of 2020

Opinion Mark Hay - 8 Jan 2021

The education body Umalusi was correct in calling for swift and decisive action after two exam paper leaks were discovered. Instead, the decision to rewrite the exams was challenged in court, which is detrimental to school-leavers

MAIL & GUARDIAN: Opinion

press releases